Lake Van Arsdale, also known as Van Arsdale Reservoir,
is a reservoir on the
Eel River in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, part of the Potter Valley Project. Located in
Mendocino County
Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza) is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah.
Mendocino County consists whol ...
, north of the town of
Potter Valley
Potter Valley is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located north-northeast of Ukiah, at an elevation of at the headwaters of the East Fork Russian River. The CDP population was 665 at the 2020 cens ...
, California, the reservoir supplies water to users as far south as
Marin County.
The reservoir is formed by the Cape Horn Dam, also known as Van Arsdale Dam,
which impounds the waters of the Eel River. A portion of its water ( per year, on average) is diverted southward through an aqueduct tunnel to a powerhouse in Potter Valley, where it drives a turbine capable of generating up to 9.4
MW of electric power. Diverted water then descends by means of the Powerhouse Canal and
East Fork Russian River
East Fork Russian River is a long tributary of the Russian River in Mendocino County, California artificially connected to the Eel River via an interbasin diversion at the Potter Valley Project hydroelectric facility.
It forms in the north of P ...
to
Lake Mendocino
Lake Mendocino is a large reservoir in Mendocino County, California, northeast of Ukiah. It covers and was formed by the construction of Coyote Valley Dam in 1958. The lake and dam provide flood control, water conservation, hydroelectric powe ...
, which supplies the
Sonoma County Water Agency. The non-diverted flow continues down the Eel to its mouth at the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
near
Fortuna
Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at ...
.
History
In 1905, the Snow Mountain Water and Power Company started building the Potter Valley Project. Cape Horn Dam was completed in 1907,
and the original project became operational in 1908.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company took over the project in 1930 and has owned the dam ever since.
Cape Horn Dam
Cape Horn Dam is a earth fill and concrete
gravity dam high, long, and thick, containing of material. Its crest is above sea level.
[https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/safety/electrical-safety/safety-initiatives/potter-valley/PAD-Sections-1-7.pdf ]
See also
*
Lake Pillsbury
Lake Pillsbury is a lake in the Mendocino National Forest of Lake County, California, created from the Eel River and Hull Mountain watershed by Scott Dam. Elevation is with of shoreline and covering . Activities in the Lake Pillsbury Recreat ...
*
List of reservoirs and dams in California
Following is a list of dams and reservoirs in California in a sortable table. There are over 1,400 named dams and 1,300 named reservoirs in the state of California.
Dams in service
:''Please add to this list from the below sources.''
Former ...
*
List of lakes in California
There are more than 3,000 named lakes, reservoirs, and dry lakes in the U.S. state of California.
Largest lakes
In terms of area covered, the largest lake in California is the Salton Sea, a lake formed in 1905 which is now saline. It occupie ...
References
External links
{{commons category, Van Arsdale Dam
SCWA reservoir levels, including Lake Van Arsdale
Buildings and structures completed in 1907
Van Arsdale
Dams in California
Pacific Gas and Electric Company dams
Eel River (California)